Automatic feed for metal-working machines



May 8, 1928.

n W. H. STICKLER AUTOMATIC FEED FOR METAL WORKING HAHINES Filed July 18. 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 May s, 192& 1,668,787

W. H. STICKLER AUTOMATIC FEED FOR METAL WORKING MACHINES Filed July 18. 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 8, 1928. 1,668,787

W. H. STICKLER AUTOMATIC FEED FOR METAL woRKING MACHINES Filed July 18. 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet "3 W 253 cf 70 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 W. H. STICKLER zverzfJ 1.( @gf/5%@ Filed July 18. 1924 AUTOMATIC FEED FOR METAL WORKING MACHINES May 8, 192.8.

tively by my invention, which ma Patentedl i May '8, 1928. l

UNITED STATES WALTER BTICXLER, OF CLEYELAND, OHIO, ASBIGNOB. T0 THE NATIONAL 8CBEW- PATENT OFFICE.

AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, 0l' D, OHIO, A CORPORATION Ol' OHIO.

AUTOMATIC FEED FOB -METAL-WOBXING MACHINES.

application ma my 1a, m24. serial 1ro. 72ans.

This invention relates to automatic feeds for metal working machines of the type wherein nuts or nut blanks and. similar smalleliminate the necessity for hand feeds in.

machines of this character, and to provide means whereby the blanks are automatically fed from a hopper and will be positioned in a given way, or will be caused to face in a given direction before being presented to the tool which operates on the blanks.

The above object is attained ver elece here briefly summarized as consisting 1n certain novel` details of construction, and combinations and arrangements of arts which will be described in the speci cation and set forth in the appended claims. I

In the accompanying sheets of drawings I have shown my invention applied to a nut castellating machine of the type and form constituting the subject matter of Letters Patent issuedv in the name of Louis Barber, `March 24, v1925, No. 1,530,974. In the drawview looking -from the opposite s ide of the machine; Fig. 2 is a-fside elevation of the automat-ic feeding mechanism with the oper-v ating shaft in section, this view showing on an enlar ed scale the mechanism shown in Fig. 1;' ig. 3 is a' horizontal sectional View substantially along the irregular `line 3-3 of Fig. 2, looking downward; Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view substantially along the line 4--4 of Fig. 3, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows; Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional 'view on an enlarged scale substantially along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the feeding mechanism looking toward the left of Fig. 2; Fig. 7 is a vertical fragmentary sectional view substantiall along the line 7-4-7 of Fig. 4, looking in t e direction indicated b tie arrows; Fig. 8 is a to plan view o the plate or bar shown, in Fi 7, Fig. 9 is a transverse sectional view o the upper chute; Fig. 10 is a transverse sectional view of the lower chute; Fig. 11 is a transverse sectional view on an enlarged scale substantially along the line 11-11 of Fig. 4, looking downward; and Fig. 12 is a transverse sectional view of the rotatable middle chute. l

Referrin now to the drawings, the castellating mac iine to which I have shown my invention applied, includes a frame 10 carrying a. vertically reciprocating slide l1 having a punch 12 for punching slots in the nut blanks.l As is customary with castellated nuts, the slots are punched or otherwise formed in an annular fiange projectinr from one side or face of the blank. The slide 11 is vertically reciprocated by a vcrank-shaft 13. Heretofore the blanks have been laced by hand in an upright chute 14 extending up a suitable height above the bed 101L of the frame. When laced in the chute it has been customary, an inv fact,'necessary'for the operator to face the blanks in a particular way, i. e. with the flanges to be punched or slotted projecting forwardly or inwardl The blanks are pushed one at a time rom the bottom of chute 14 by a horizontally movable vpusher 15 which at each forward stroke moves a blank forwardly into a holder 16, capable of being indexed. The rod 1 5 constituting the pusher has at its forward end a reduced art in the form of a die which passes througi the bore of the blank, and which during the punching operation rests on an anvil 17.

The pusher 15 is `operated automatically by a link 18 connected by a rod 19 and a bell crank 19 to a second rod 20, --which in turn is connected to a lever arm 21 fixed to a. second lever arm 22 carrying a. yroller 23 engaging the periphery of a cam 24 on a shaft 25 journaledin the `frame .10 and connected by earing 26 to the crank-shaft 13.

e blank holder 16 is indexed b an indexing lmember 27 operatedby the 'de carltei-mined number of strokes of the punch,

usually sixin number. The Apusher is then retracted and again moved forwardly, moving another nut blank into the holder, whereupon the operation is repeated.

The castellating machine is fully described in the Barber patent referred to above, and

hence needs no further description herein.

In carrying out my mvention I apply to the top of the frame 10 a hopper 28 having a rotai` feeding member 29 which is given a step by step rotative movement, and whose teeth or arms are adapted to be moved through a groove 2S in the base of the hopper. The width of the groove is such that nut blanks can drop into thevsame, facing in either direction, with their axes parallel to the axis of the toothed member 29, and they are moved along by the teeth and finally slide into a chute 30 which may be termed. the upper chute. As the blanks move down l this chute they rest with their flat faces or flats on one another. Their axes will then be horizontal, but their flanged faces maybe facing either to the right or to the left, i. e. in either direction at right angles to the plane of Fig. 1.

The toothed member 29 of the hopper can be actuated in any suitable manner, as by a pawl 31 carried by a bell crank 32 supported at the top of the hopper on a shaft 33 carrying the feeder 29. he bell crank 32 is preferably operated by a rod 34 provided at its lower end with a yoke 35, which slidingly' engages a block 36 on shaft 25 and carrying a roller 37 engaging a cam 38 secured to the shaft 25.

The hop er and feed mechanism carried by it may be of standard construction such vas employed on nut tapping machines. With nut tapping machines, however, it is immaterial which end of the blank is presented to the tapping tool, whereas with castellating machines and other machines such as those, which face the blanks on one side, it is, of course, necessary that a given end or face of each blank be presented to the tool.

In accordance with my invention, though the blanks enter the upper chute 30 facing 1n either of two directions and pass from the upper chute to the lower chute 14, there is provided between these two chute members, mechanism which delivers vthe blanks to the lower chute, with the blanks all facing in one direction and so positioned in the lower chute that they will be properly presented to thetool.

This is accomplished by the following mechanism. I providebetween the bottom turned durin of the upper chute 30 and the top of the lower chute 14 a middle chute or chute member 39 having a passageway connecting the passageways in the first named chutes, the

middle chute member being adapted to bel disks 42 and 43 at the lower end of the middle chute member 39; the ratchet disk 42 being pinned or otherwise secured to the chute member 39 and ratchet disk 43 being loosely mounted on a down-turned flange 42* of disk 42. Both ratchet disks have the same number of teeth, preferably twelve in number. The teeth of disk 42 are of equal len th, but the teeth of disk 43 are of two di erent lengths, there being three short teeth, then three long teeth, then three short teeth, and then three long teeth. The ratchet disks are adapted to be turned by a. pawl 44 carried by a plunger 45 having a roller 46 engaged by an eccentric or cam 47 of crankshaft 13. A spring 48` located in a housing 49 of casting 41 keeps the roller against the face of cam47. The pawl 44'has an operating end or face of sufficientbreadth to engage the teeth of both ratchet disks 42 and 43, but when the pawl engages in the notches between the shorter teeth of disk 43, as shown in Fi 5, it is prevented from engaging the teet of the upper ratchet 42, in which event, for three strokes the lower ratchet onl will be turned and the middle chute member 39 will be stationary, after which, during the next three strokes both ratchets will be turned in unison, turning the middle chute member ninety degrees. This is followed by three step by step movements of the lower ratchet onl after which, both ratchets are turned, causing the middle chute Vmember to be again turned ninety degrees.

In other words, the middle chute member is three succeeding strokes-of pawl 44, causing it to be turned ninety degrees, then remain stationary for the next succeeding three strokes, then during the next three strokes is again given a ninety deree movement and then remains stationary for the next three strokes, etc.

Ratchet disk 42 has an upstanding flange 42" having four equally spaced notches 42 (see partlcularly Fig. 5) f, and these are adapted to be engaged by a spring pressed pin 51 (see Figs.3 and 4) wluch definitely 'blanks to pass into the lower chute only when they are facing in a given direction. It might be here stated that in one complete cycle of movement of the middle chute member v39, the opening 39 extending therethrough (se Fig. 12 twice registers with the opening 53pf dis 53 so that the blanks may pass from the middle chute member into the lower chute, these registrations occurring durin two of' the intervals one hundred and eig ty degrees apart when the middle chute member is stationary.- During the otheg two intervals that the middle chute member is stationary the opening 39* thereof registers with the opening of the upper chute 30 so that the blanks may pass from the latterv into the middle chute member. That is to say, during the intervals that the middle chute member is s tationary the opening therein registers alternately with the opening in the upper chute and the opening in the lower chute.

At the top of the middle chute member there is an endwise movable sliding gate `54' lmovable transversely of the chute members.

This gate has an openin 54* which is adapted to be moved into an out of registration with the o ening of the upper chute. This gate or sli e 54 slides over a hardened steel ring orcollar 55 which is secured to the top of -the middle chute member and in effect constitutes a part thereof. This collar 55 has two diametrically opposite notches 55l adapted to be-engaged by the tapered end of a pin 56 -which norma-ll moves back and forth with the slide'v54, t ere being a coil spring 58 between the pin and the slide, as s own in Fig. 7, this' spring bearing against, a down-turned flange at one end of the slide.

Surrounding a pin 59 between a downturned ufiange at the opposite end of the slide and the stationary casing is a spring 60, the function of which is to move the slide so that its opening 54* is in registration with thel opening of the up r 'chute member 30 whenever the end of t e'pin 56' moves into one of the notches 55, i. e. during each of two of the four stationary intervals of chute member 39 of each cycle. As soon as the chute member 39 begins its movement the notch 55 is moved away from the ta ered end of pin 56; in which event the en wise movement imparted to the pin 56 is transmitted through the spring 58 to the slide 54 moving the slide sufficiently to bring its opening out of registration with the opening of' the upper chute so as to hold the column ot' 'blanks above it from dropping into the middle chute member. Spring 58 is `stronger than spring 60 and this spring is provided for the purpose of preventing breakage in the event that movement of the slide to bring its opening 54' out of registration. with the opening 1n the up er chute (such movement is toward the rig it as the deviceis viewed in Fig. 7) is prevented by a blank when the rotary movement of' the chute member 39 forces the end of the pin 56 out of one ofthe notches 55H.

At the lower end of the middle chute member 39 there is a gate 61 in the form of a finger pivotally connected to a slide 62 which is mounted for endwisemovement in a part of the casting 41. The forward end of the finger normally projects into an opening 63 (see particularly Fig. 4) at the upper part of the lower chute 14 and the extreme inner end of the pawl is adapted to extend lup into the opening of the stationary disk .53 which, as, already stated, is secured to the'top ofthe upper chute 14. Secured to the finger 61 and to the lower chute is a coil spi-inn 64, the purpose of which is to pull the finger downward along the inclined surfac"l 65 when the finger is retracted, the arrangement being such that when the finger is `retracted the inner end thereof moves downwardly and outwardly middle chute member to the lower chute and when said slide 62 is moved inwardly the inner end of the finger moves inwardly and upwardly by the action of the cam surface 65 to the position sllown in F ig. 4.

The gate 61 is operated twice during each complete revolution ofl chute member 39, i. e. during two of the four intervals that the chute member is stationary. This is accomplished by providing on the lower ratchet disk 43 (w-hich makes a complete revolution to each half revolution of the upper ratchet disk'42 and rotary chute member 39) a pin orlug 66 which projects down from the lower side of the disk as shown in Fig.5 and is adapted when it reachesa given position to engage the end of slide 62 and to move the s ame outwardly; that is to say, it engages the end of the slide, moves the same outwardly,.and then moves past the slide, and when itnpasses the slide the latteris moved inwardly to its former position by a. spring 67 in a housing of casting 41, as shown in Fig. 3. When the slide is moved outwardly the pivoted finger or gate 61 is retracted and pulled downward by spring 64 -and on the inward movement of the slide finger 6 moves inwardly and upwardly te the position shown in Fig. `4.130

100 so as to permit nut blanks to pass from the The actuation of the slide and lower gate occurs when the pawl 44 is engaging three of the shorter teeth ot the lower ratchet disk, and therefore while the upper ratchet disk and chute member 39 are stationary, and it occurs, as already stated, each time after the opening 39 in the middle chute member has been brought into registration with the opening 53a at the top ofthe lower chute, this occurring atter each half revolution of chute member 39.

Additionally, I provide a safety device'to prevent breakage in the event that the pivoted finger 6l is prevented from moving inwardly its full distance by a blank which might extend up from the top of the lower chute into thelower partot the chute member 89, as for example. when the lower chute is coi'npletely filled with blanks, or if for any other reason a blank should become lodged or jammed between the middle and lower chute members. To attain this end an extension G2 of slide 62 (see Fig. 5^) is provided with an upstanding pin 68 engaging in an opening of a disk (S9 free to turn or oscillate at the top of upper ratchet disk 42. This disk 69 has an elongated slot 70 engaged by a pin 71 carried by an upper disk 72 which is similarly mounted for free oscillatory movement immediately above disk 69. A spring 73 connected to pin 71 normally holds the disk in position such that pin 71 is at the end oitV slot 70. Disk 72 is provided adjacent actuating pawl 44 with la short plate 74 having -an arc-shaped periphery 74a at one end of which is Aa shoulder 74". This plate 74 normally is so positioned that pawl 44 is free to engage the teeth of one or both ratchet disks 42 and 43; that is to say, it is thus positioned when the pivoted finger or gate 61 is in its normal position to support the column of blanks in middle chute member 39. However,

when slide 62 is retracted pin 68 causes disk 69 to be given a slightl rotative movement,

and the end of slot 70 engaging pin 71 1mparts to disk 72 a similar rotative movemen-t, both disks turning in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 5. This moves plate 74 forwardly under pawl 44 so that the plate prevents the pawl from droppingl into the notches of upper ratchet disk 42 and thus prevents the rotation of the middle chute member 39 until pivoted linger or gate 61 moves back or inward to its normal position. Then this occurs spring 73 moves 'plate 74to inoperative position in so far as pawl 44 is concerned, the latter then being allowed to function in the usual manner.

The op ration is as follows. The blanks are fed. rom the hopper into the upper chute 30'the blanks then facing in either of two directions, i. e. with their flanges to be castellated., facing either es viewed in Fig. 9, or in the direction opposite thereto. The blanks dropping into chute 30 are normally prevented by the upper gate 54 from passing into the middle chute member'. Meanwhile pawl 44 is engaged in turning middle chute member 39 intermittently. Each time one of the two slots a is brought into registration with pin 56, the gate 54 moves laterally or in an endwise direction sutlieiently to permit blanks to drop into the middle chute member. While in the middle chute member they may be facing in either of two directions, as indicated in Fig. 7. During two of the four intervals that the middle chute member is stationary, i. e. two alternate intervals other than the two during which upper gate 54 is actuated, the lower gate is retracted so as to permit the blanks to pass from the middle chute member to the lower chute.

The opening in the stationary disk 53* located at the top of the lower chute 14 is so shaped that the blanks must face in a given direction in order that they may pass through the opening' into the lower chute. By observing the shape of the opening 53 of stationary disk 53, it will be observed that this openin has on one side a notch 53" of a size su cient to accommodate the flange in the blank to be castellated. Opposite this notch 53 there is a smaller notch 53, but this is not wide enough to accommodate the flange of the blank, but is provided simply to accommodate the burr which may be projecting from the unlianged face of the blank. This requires that the blanks which pass through opening 53l into the lower chute all face in a given direction.

When the lower gate 61 is retracted, the

middle chute member has been turned to position such that the lowermost blank in the middle chute member (and possibly others above it) is either in vposition to pass through the opening 53aL or in a position one hundred and eighty degrees therefrom. If the lowermost blank is in proper position when the lower gate is retracted, it will drop into the lower chute; it it is in the wrong position, i. e. one hundred and eighty degrees from that required to pass through the opening 53, it will not pass into the lower chute until the lower gate is again retracted, after middle chute member has been again turned one hundred and eighty de rees.

t will be understood that each time the lower gate is retracted it is possible that no blanks will pass-into the lower chute. On the other hand, itthe lowermost blank is properly positioned, it and all the blanks immediately above it having the same position will slide into the lower chute.

- In this manner sufiicient blanks are fed into the lower chute to permit a constant supply to pass t0 the astellating mechanism to maintain continuous operation, assuming, of course, that the machine is operating normally, and the blanks that pass into Kthe lower chute are facing the 'right direction to be operated on by .the castellating mechanism. Thus it will be seen that from a hopper in which the blanks may occupy a variety or unlimited number of'positions, they are properly positioned when finally delivered to the castellating mechanism without requiring the attention of the operator, and without manual handling, the blanks passing into the upper chute 1n one of twopositions, and belng delivered into the lower chute with the blanks all occupying a given position or facing in the correct direction. Thus the machine is rendered wholly automatic and the constant attention of an operator is done away with.

While I have illustrated my improved automatic feed mechanism applied to a nut castellating machine, it may find utility also in other types of machines wherein there are similar requirements that the blanks or articles handled all face lin a given or certain direction when operated on bythe tool or tools. Furthermore, I do not desire -to beconfined to the Aexact details or arrange` ment shown, but aim in my claims to cover all modifications which do not involve a departure from the spirit and scope of my invention as defined in the appended claims. Having described my invention, I claim-z l.. In a metal working machine having a tool for operating on blanks, blank delivery means comprising aligned chute members including one which permits passage of blanks facing in one direction -only, and another which is rotatable and delivers the lanks successively to the first chute memer. 2. In -a metal workin machine having a tool for operating on b anks, an automatic feed mechanism comprising a plurality of lon itndinally aligned chute secetions inclu ing two stationary sections, an intermediate section having a pasasgeway through which blanks may pass from one stationary section to the other, the stationary section to which said intermediate section delivers having a passageway permitting entry only of blanks facing in a given direction, and said intermediatesection being movable to align successive blanks with the passage in said mentioned stationary section.

3. In a I netal workin machine havinga tool for operating on b anks, an automatic feed mechanism comprising up er and lower stationary chute members, t e lower of which has an entrance opening which permits entry only of those blanks facing in a given direction, and an inte ediate rotary chute havin a single d c arge o ening member whic delivers t e blanksn rom dischargeopening and for Vpositioning the blanks delivered to the stationary'section, and a gate controlling the passage'of blanks v from the rotar'y to the stationary section.

5. In a metal working machine having a tool for operating on blanks, automatic feed mechanism comprising a chute having two stationary sections, and an intermediate movable section aligned with the stationary sections and adapted to be turned to reverse the position of the blanks therein, and intermittently operated gates controlling the passage of blanks from one stationary section to the movable section and from theN latter to the other stationary section. im.`

6. In a metal working machine having a tool adapted to operate on blanks, a feed hopper, a stationary chute Aleading therefrom, a second stationary chute leading toward the tool, an intermediate rotatable chute between the stationary chutes and in alignment therewith, means for intermittently turning said intermediate chute about its longitudinal axis, gates controlling the passage of blanks from the lirst-named sta- 10o tionary chute to the rotatable. member and from the rotatable member into the secondnamed stationary chute, and means for intermittently operating said gates.

7. A feed for a metal working machine comprising a hopper, a chute leadin from. the hopper to the machine, means for delivering blanks from the hopper linto the chute, said chute having a lower section thereof so formed as to permt entry only of those blanks which are facing in la given direction, and meansfor reversing blanks stopped at the entrance to said lower section whereb said blanks are enabled to pass therethroug 1.

8. A feed for a metal workin machine comprising a hopper, a chute lea in from the hopper to the machine, means or delivering blanks from the hopper into the chute, said chute having a lower section thereof so formed as to permit entry-only of those blanks which are facing in a given direction, said chute having a rotatable section delivering to said lower section thereof, said rotatable section having a single discharge opening, and means for intermittently turning said rotatable section to cause successive blanks lto pass into said lower section.

9. A feed for' al metal workingmachine l130 tion delivering to said lower section and adapted to receive blanks facing in either clireetion,

In testimony whereofl I here-unto alix my signature.

WALTER H. STICKLER. 

